1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to computer implementable decision support systems for determining optimal supply chain plans based on multiple due date considerations. General methodologies within this field of study include advanced planning systems, optimization and heuristic based algorithms, constraint based programming, and simulation.
2. Description of the Related Art
A fundamental problem faced in all manufacturing industries is the allocation of material and capacity assets to meet end customer demand. Production lead times necessitate the advance planning of production starts, interplant shipments, and material substitutions throughout the supply chain so that these decisions are coordinated with the end customers' demand for any of a wide range of finished products (typically on the order of thousands in semiconductor manufacturing). Such advance planning depends upon the availability of finite resources which include: finished goods inventory, work in process inventory (WIP) at various stages of the manufacturing system, and work-center capacity. Often, there are alternative possibilities for satisfying the demand. Products may be built at alternative locations and within a location there may be choices as to which materials or capacity to use to build the product. The product may be built directly or acquired through material substitution or purchase. When limited resources prevent the satisfaction of all demands, decisions need to be made as to which demand to satisfy and how to satisfy it. This resource allocation problem is often addressed through linear programming or heuristic algorithms.
The below-referenced U.S. patents disclose embodiments that were satisfactory for the purposes for which they were intended. The disclosures of both the below-referenced prior U.S. patents, in their entireties, are hereby expressly incorporated by reference into the present invention for purposes including, but not limited to, indicating the background of the present invention and illustrating the state of the art: U.S. Pat. No. 5,971,585, “Best can do matching of assets with demand in microelectronics manufacturing,” Oct. 26, 1999; U.S. Pat. No. 6,701,201, “Decomposition System and Method for Solving a Large-Scale Semiconductor Production Planning Problem,” Mar. 2, 2004; U.S. Patent Application 20050171824US1, “Method for simultaneously considering customer commit dates and customer request dates,” Aug. 4, 2005; and U.S. Patent Application 20020198757US1, “Method for allocating limited component supply and capacity to optimize production scheduling,” Dec. 26, 2002.